Welcome to Making the Most of Moorlands (an education project)

Introduction to the Project

The Making the Most of Moorlands is an education project which began as the Moorland Education Project in 2009 with funding from Scottish Natural Heritage and LEADER Dumfries & Galloway. The project aims to enhance the understanding within the community of man's role in the management of the Moorland and ensure the involvement of the community in the progress of the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project. Making the Most of Moorlands follows on from the Moorland Education Project.

What's on this site

Use the links at the top of this page to read the diary of Dr Barlow and find out what the project officer has been up to lately.

You can see what public events have been arranged by her on the events page.

The wildlife page has pictures of many of the interesting birds, mammals and other creatures to be found on the Langholm Moor.

The gallery page shows pictures of some of the activities on the moor involving local people.

The other pages show you where to find us and how to get incontact with us. There is a page of useful links

Latest News

Funding: Donations and regular giving

In common with many other projects, public funding is becoming increasingly difficult to find and as a result we have just set up a means for those who support us to financially donate to the work of the Project. Click here for a copy of the Donation Form which you can print out and use.

All donations are very much appreciated and no amount is too small (or too much!).

Bird Disease Alert

In recent weeks we have received several reports of dead or dying birds from gardens in and around Langholm. A bird was sent away for post mortem and the most likely cause has been identified as a parasite called Trichomonosis. This causes disease in the throat and gullet of the bird.

This disease is not caused by dirty feeders but can be spread through saliva and droppings of birds, so cleaning feeders regularly is really important to prevent spread of the disease. I have attached a couple of fact sheets about the disease and good feeder hygiene.

The dispersal patterns of harriers in Scotland are generally not well understood, despite these having a probable influence on their survival and predation on prey during the winter. Since 2010 a proportion of the harrier chicks fledged at Langholm have been fitted with satellite tags which monitor their progress during the next year.

The Langholm Moor Demonstration Project has supported this because it is vital to know about the dispersal and fate of harriers so we can better inform national conservation frameworks, particularly about the proportion of harriers that disperse and/or die naturally away from grouse moors as this is currently not known. This year the Making the Most of Moorlands Project is contributing towards the hen harrier satellite tagging programme.

Project Officer

The Project Officer is Dr. Cat Barlow, an educationalist and ecologist specialising in upland habitats. She is based at the offices of the Langholm Initiative in Langholm

Partners

In 2007 partners Buccleuch, Estates, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, RSPB and Natural England launched The Langholm Moor 10 Year Demonstration Project, with the aim of establishing Langholm Moor as a driven grouse moor which meets the nature conservation objectives for the SPA and SSSI.The eyes of Europe are on this high profile project, which was launched by Environment Minister Michael Russell, but the local community is largely unaware of the significance of the Demonstration Project or the potential economic benefits from the Moor to the community.

Awareness

The Langholm Moor Demonstration Project is one of the most important upland conservation projects in the UK and the Making the Most of Moorlands (an education project) is working alongside the Demonstration Project Staff to raise awareness of this vital project, both locally and further afield.